


Home

by 00Aredhel00



Category: Smallville
Genre: Angst, Clex - Freeform, Family, Family Feels, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Lex makes friends with a runaway cow, M/M, Some Humor, at least a little angsty because Lionel sucks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-05
Updated: 2020-08-05
Packaged: 2021-03-06 07:13:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,044
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25729498
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/00Aredhel00/pseuds/00Aredhel00
Summary: Lex had two very bad weeks in Metropolis and is looking forward to getting home. But first he has to get rid of an obstacle on the road.
Relationships: Clark Kent/Lex Luthor
Comments: 11
Kudos: 128





	Home

Lex was so tired.

No, tired didn’t cover it. He was bone weary and he was pretty sure he shouldn’t have gotten behind the wheel this Friday night after a two-week stay in Metropolis to work with his father on an important project in which he had had nothing to say anyway. Endless hours of working late into the night, no more than a few hours of sleep, his father constantly breathing down his neck, playing his stupid games, mocking him, not taking him seriously, no matter what he said or suggested, making it very clear once more that he wasn’t good enough for that man and never would be, had taken a toll on him.

He had just wanted to get home, so he was now driving his Ferrari into Smallville – after three hours on the road and five big cups of coffee to go. It was late, almost ten o’clock. Which was good. In a small town like that, the chances of killing someone because of falling asleep behind the wheel were relatively low at that time. 

Lex took another sip from his current coffee, about ready to just park the car and fall asleep right here. It didn’t matter. He was home, even if it wasn’t his mansion yet, and he felt some of the tension that had built up in the last weeks leave him.

Which itself wasn’t that good, because it made his eyelids droop again.

He was already driving extraordinarily slow and now his foot on the accelerator went up a little more as he took another sip of coffee. Only ten or fifteen more minutes, even at this speed, and he would be in his own bed and could sleep for 12 hours straight if he wanted to. 

Despite the headache caused most likely by acute sleep deprivation he almost smiled as he left the town to get on the road past the Kent farm and towards his mansion. When in the last three years had this cow town become home?

He put the coffee back into the cup holder and when he looked back on the road … there was a cow. Right in front of him.

For a moment he could just stare, his reflexes, already pretty much at their worst when he had started the drive, now basically non-existent.

Was he so tired that he was seeing things?

He blinked.

The cow was still there.

And finally he reacted, bringing his car to a stop only a few inches before the cow. As slowly as he had been driving, the wheels still managed to squeak a little as the Ferrari came to a sudden stop.

The animal didn’t move and just stared at him dumbly and Lex was pretty sure he had the same dumb expression on his own face as he just sat there, holding the stirring wheel, taking a few deep breaths.

Finally, he killed the engine, switched on the warning lights, got out of the car and walked towards the cow.

Hesitantly, he reached out and touched the massive neck. Definitely no hallucination. It also made no attempt to bite him, which was good.

Taking another deep breath, Lex shook his head. “You do realize that we both could have died here, right?”

Obviously not. Unimpressed, the cow stared back at him.

_Great, just great._

Lex fished his cell out of his pocket and called the Kents’ number. It was pretty obvious who this cow belonged to, considering how close he was to their entry gate.

After a few rings he heard a familiar voice. And it was just his luck that it wasn’t Clark or at least Martha.

“Jonathan Kent?”

While the cow was still staring at him, Lex spoke in a dry voice. “Good evening, Mr. Kent. Lex Luthor. Are you by any chance missing a cow?”

Silence on the other side of the line. Then a puzzled “What?”

“A cow. Big animal, black and white fur, horns, not too bright obviously and I’m not an expert, but I’m pretty sure that’s where our milk comes from.”

Lex closed his eyes for a moment. Fuck. Now he had gotten carried away. Was he so tired that he couldn’t think straight anymore? Yeah, that explained it, but it didn’t make it better.

For three years he had tried to get on the man’s good side. He liked Jonathan Kent despite his often rude behaviour towards him, he envied Clark a little for a father like that, but mainly he didn’t want Clark to be in constant trouble for being friends with a Luthor. And now that they were more than friends, had been for a couple of months as a matter of fact, the situation was even more difficult. Clark had to lie to his parents to avoid their disapproval and Lex didn’t like that. He lied to his father on a daily basis, but that was different. His father lied to him, too. This was just part of their whole fucked up relationship. A Luthor family tradition, so to speak.

He didn’t want to stand between Clark and his parents, though, he didn’t want what he had for Clark. And he knew that if he wanted this to last, Clark would one day be forced to choose if nothing changed and the thought of that made him sick.

So lately he had tried even harder to make Jonathan see that he wasn’t his father, that he was his own person. He may not be saint, but the last thing he wanted was become like Lionel Luthor. He shuddered when he thought of the way this man had treated his mother.

_Please, I don’t want to be like him. Please, I never want to hurt Clark the way he hurt her._

“Luthor?” Kent sounded annoyed.

Shit, he had obviously missed something. How long had he blacked out?

Sympathetically, the cow nuzzled his arm. Or maybe she was just looking for any food that might be hidden in his pockets.

“Mr. Kent, I’m sorry, I was out of line. But look, there’s a cow on the road. I almost hit her with my car.” He paused for a moment as the cow rubbed her big head on his side and looked up at him with big eyes. Without thinking, he stroke her forehead. “I’d very much appreciate it, if you could come get her.”

“I’m coming. If this is a joke …”

“No, Sir, it’s … eww.” That was probably the most undignified sound he had made in front of anyone else in years. Maybe ever.

“What is it?”

“It drooled on my shirt.”

Was that a snort? “I’m coming.”

The connection broke and Lex put the phone away, looking back at the cow, who looked back at him which her huge dark eyes. Lex sighed but once more reached out to touch the animal’s neck. “Your owner will probably make this my fault somehow.” Again, she nuzzled his arm.

Lex rolled his eyes. Clark obviously had a bad influence on him when he thought of a cow as cute. His father would have a field day with this knowledge.

Sighing again he rubbed his face with his free hand tiredly, not stopping the petting movement with the other. 

He didn’t hear the footsteps as Jonathan approached him, rope in one hand, and he didn’t see the man stop a few steps away, eying him for a moment.

“So you now made friends with Betsy, too?” The voice wasn’t as hostile as usual, but Lex was too tired to notice.

He couldn’t help but flinch, both hands dropping to his sides as he did his best to adapt a halfway neutral facial expression. “Betsy?”

“Yeah, that’s her name.” Jonathan made his way to the cow, gave her a gentle pet as he laid the rope around her neck. “She likes to go for walks. I have no idea how she got out this time, sorry about that. I hope nothing happened?” The farmer’s eyes first scanned his cow, then the expensive car, which was still standing in the middle of the road, flashing its warning lights.

“No, everything’s fine.” Lex couldn’t help it. “I wasn’t driving fast.”

It had been meant as joke, a reference to their first meeting, but of course there was always something to criticize. Maybe it was him after all. His father and Jonathan Kent were very different men, if both of them hated him, maybe there was a reason behind it. “The way you’re looking you shouldn’t be driving at all.” There was reproach in his voice and what could he say? The man was right. It had been wrong to drive tonight. But he hadn’t been able to stand the thought of having one more breakfast with his father. 

Lex took a deep breath. After two weeks of constant fighting with and criticism by his father and hardly any sleep, he wasn’t up for this. “Yeah, I just … Never mind, I should get home. Goodnight, Mr. Kent.” Hating the resignation that had crept into his voice, he turned around and went back to the car, when Jonathan spoke up again.

“I didn’t mean it like that. But you really look like shit.” His voice had softened a little.

Lex looked back over his shoulder, raising his eyebrows. “Well … thanks?”

Jonathan gave a wry smile. “Look, why don’t you come in for a moment? Martha made an apple pie earlier today. Clark should be home any moment, too. He’s been working on a school project with Pete all day, but he’s on his way back.”

This was the very first time for three years of his friendship with Clark that Jonathan invited him into his house. Even if he dropped dead from exhaustion, he was not going to say no. Besides, he hadn’t seen Clark for two weeks and he had missed him more than he had thought possible. They hadn’t even been able to talk on the phone much because Lex had spent most of the time with his father and the last thing he wanted was draw Lionel Luthor’s attention to Clark. He had given Clark a cell for his 17th birthday, which his boyfriend was hiding from his parents, but every day it had been pretty late when Lex had finally managed to flee into his old bedroom and he hadn’t wanted to wake Clark. So all they had had in the last two weeks had been far too few extremely short calls and text messages.

All Lex wanted was to take him with him for the night. Not for sex, they hadn’t done that yet and Lex wanted to give him all the time he needed. However, holding Clark for a whole night, being held by him, sounded like heaven, especially right now.

Seeing him for a few minutes at least and eating a piece of homemade pie with him, maybe getting into a conversation with his parents – although he doubted that he was able to make a very good impression right now when he felt like he could hardly stand upright – was close second.

“Sure, thank you.”

Jonathan nodded and led the cow back to the farm where he brought her into the stable. Lex got back into the car and slowly followed. Betsy looked back at him as he parked the car in front of the farm house before the stable door closed behind her.

Before Jonathan came back, the old truck pulled in and parked next to the Ferrari.

Clark jumped out with a broad smile on his face, eyes lighting up just at the sight of Lex getting out of his car. That alone was enough to make him feel better. No one else had ever looked at him like that. 

“Hey, I didn’t know you were coming home today!”

“Yes, it was kind of spontaneous, I originally wanted to get back tomorrow.” Lex felt his lips form a smile, a real smile, not the fake one he had summoned for business negotiations in the last two weeks.

It was obvious that Clark wanted to hug him, but he listened for a moment, then his head turned slightly towards the stable.

_You hear him in there, don’t you?_

There was nothing to hear, not for Lex at least. But it didn’t matter, not really, Lex noted with a hint of surprise.

The day they had first kissed, he had burnt everything in his room of evidence. He had done it himself, behind the castle, after his staff had gone home for the day, so nobody else would see that stuff. He hoped that Clark would trust him enough one day to tell him the truth, but he wouldn’t spy on him anymore. He wanted to know, the scientist in him wanted to know, but it wasn’t worth destroying what they had.

Clark smiled at him again, openly, happily. No, nothing was worth risking that.

Clark didn’t hug him, but he came as close as he could without looking suspicious. “I missed you,” he whispered.

“I missed you, too,” Lex whispered back and wanted to touch him so badly his hands almost moved on their own accord.

A frown formed on Clark’s forehead. “God, you look tired. Are you ok?”

“So bad?” Lex smiled again. “Don’t worry, nothing that a good night’s sleep can’t cure.”

The barn door opened and Jonathan came toward them. “Hi Clark. You two want to stay out here?”

Clark shot him a puzzled look. He certainly wasn’t used to Jonathan not trying to get rid of Lex as soon as he saw him.

“Don’t look at me like that. We owe Lu … Lex a piece of pie. Your mother made one. He was sitting Betsy.”

“Huh?”

Lex couldn’t help it. At Clark’s dumbfounded expression a quiet laugh escaped him. “She went for a walk on the road when I was on my way home.”

“Oh, she got out again? Did you …?”

“I didn’t hit her, Clark. The cow is fine,” he joked.

“I didn’t just think of the cow, you know. Although I like Betsy a lot.”

“I’ll keep that in mind the next time I meet her on one her walks.”

They both laughed, even Jonathan broke into a small grin.

“Come in,” he said again and inside they were greeted by Martha, who was filled in with the story and greeted him warmly, and served pie for both Lex and Clark, and then sat down on the kitchen table with them, as did Jonathan after Lex had declined a coffee – he had had enough of that today.

An easy conversation unfolded around Lex, jokes about the cow, questions how Clark’s project had gone, every day chatter, and although he didn’t participate a lot, Lex found himself relaxing after a while, feeling even more of the tension leave him, especially when he noticed that even Jonathan kept it civil for once. And although Lex was used to the finest food, he felt like he hadn’t tasted anything as good as this pie in a very long time. When he praised it, Martha beamed at him and promised she would let his cook, who was a friend of hers, have the recipe. Lex thanked her with a polite smile, but if he was completely honest with himself, he would have preferred another invitation.

Deep down he felt that it wouldn’t taste the same. Not because his cook wasn’t good, in fact she was great, but … this was so different from what he was used to. Sitting alone on a giant table or with business partners in a fancy restaurant or his father … was nothing compared to this relaxed atmosphere. So this was what family felt like. He loved Clark very much, but at the same time he knew he had never envied him as much as he did at this moment.

Martha exchanged looks with her husband, Jonathan cleared his throat and looked expectantly at his wife, who just rolled her eyes and looked at Lex. “Can I ask you something?”

He was surprised and his tired brain didn’t really come up with many ideas as to what this question could be about. “Sure, what is it?” Had they changed their mind about taking money from him for the farm? He had hoped they would one day, but at the same time he hoped that it wouldn’t be today. He found himself hoping this conversation wouldn’t turn to money.

_God, what’s wrong with you today, Luthor?_

“Are you and Clark still just friends?”

Clark choked on the second piece of cake he had gotten himself moments ago and Lex was glad that he had finished his piece by now.

Martha raised her hands. “I’m sorry if we’re wrong. But we noticed that you behave differently when you’re together and … I thought I saw you touching hands once before you drove off, Lex. In a way … that didn’t look like friendship to me.”

“Besides, in the last two weeks Clark left what felt like every two minutes to check the secret cell phone he suddenly seems to have for new messages,” Jonathan added with a pointed look at Lex.

Lex swallowed. “Yeah … the cell phone was a birthday present. We weren’t sure if you’d find it appropriate or too expensive, so he kept it hidden. I’m sorry. I should have asked you.”

Martha smiled gently and to Lex’s surprise she leaned over the table and touched his shoulder. “Don’t worry, that’s ok,” she said with a reassuring smile. “As to the other question …?”

She leaned back again and both Jonathan and her looked at him expectantly.

He shot a quick glance at Clark who had stopped eating, but still stared fixedly at his cake.

No help from there.

He took a deep breath. “Yes, it’s true. Clark and I are more than friends.” Years of his own father telling him that it was wrong, weak, to talk about feelings, to let feelings get in the way, held his tongue for a moment. His mouth felt so dry. But then he looked at Clark again and forced himself to look at Jonathan and Martha directly. “I love him.”

Silence.

After a while, Jonathan nodded. “Alright. If you hurt him, you should remember I have a shotgun.”

“Jonathan! We talked about this.” Martha’s voice sounded annoyed.

“It’s alright,” Lex interrupted. “If I hurt him, I deserve it.” He meant it. Deep inside he still feared that this was bound to happen eventually. He had never been exposed to a healthy relationship, so this was completely new ground for him. “But I will do my best not to.”

“You won’t.” Finally, Clark had shaken off the shock and Lex felt a hand on his. When he looked at his boyfriend, he saw him looking back with all the trust in the world. Clark knew about his fears and he kept telling him that they were ungrounded, kept telling him that he was a good man, regardless of his upbringing or his family history, regardless of the fact that both nature and nurture spoke against him. Sometimes Lex could almost believe him.

“Alright,” Jonathan said again. He sighed. And then, completely out of nowhere: “I’m sorry. I never gave you a real chance. I’ll try to … change that.”

Lex didn’t know what to say. Finally, he managed a quiet “Thank you.”

Clark let go off his hand to hug both his parents and Martha laughed. “Yes, thank you!”

He could see how relieved his boyfriend was and he felt the same.

“But we’ve kept you far too long. You look exhausted,” Martha said, a hint of worry in her eyes.

How many people were going to tell him that today? But he didn’t mind, not really. Other than when it was coming from his father, who reprimanded him for showing weakness, this wasn’t an accusation.

“Yes, I should go. Thank you again for the cake, Mrs. Kent.”

“You’re welcome. And call me Martha. He’s Jonathan.”

Jonathan looked at her, obviously amused. “So I can’t speak for myself now?”

“Just making sure you’re going to say the right thing.” She smiled at her husband innocently.

When Clark laughed Lex couldn’t help but smile.

Jonathan looked at him for a long moment. “I still don’t think you should be driving. It’s a damn miracle you made it so far.”

“I’ll be fine, really. It’s just a few more minutes.”

“Sure, and the next cow you meet on the road will certainly get hit.” To Lex’s never-ending surprise, he smiled. “When I look at the car, I’m pretty sure the cow wins.”

Uncharacteristically, another short laugh escaped him. “You could be right there. But I’m pretty sure I won’t meet another cow. Unless Betsy got out again.”

Jonathan grinned, then shook his head. “I’m going to say something now. And you two better hurry then, before I come to my senses and change my mind. Clark, drive him home. You can stay overnight and you…” He looked at Lex “… can bring him back when you come to dinner tomorrow.”

That was it. He was officially hallucinating. He stared at Jonathan blankly while the farmer seemed to bite back laughter.

Then he felt a familiar hand in his trouser pocket, fishing for the key for the Ferrari, while Clark’s other hand closed around his wrist, pulling gently. “Come on, get moving. Don’t test your luck.” There was laughter in his voice. He pulled Lex with him, while he stammered something that he hoped sounded like “Thank you” and “Goodnight.”

***

“Who are you and what have you done to my husband?”

“What? I promised you to be reasonable about this.” Jonathan turned to her with an innocent smile.

“Yes, but that was … “

“Too much? Come on, that guy couldn’t do anything with Clark if he wanted to. Have you seen him?”

“I didn’t mean that. Have you seen the way Clark looks at him? He wouldn’t look at him that way if he’d ever done anything he wasn’t comfortable with. I was actually thinking the same thing, but I thought you’d throw a fit.”

She embraced him and he gladly returned the gesture. “Well … even an old dog can learn new tricks. And … you know. When he was waiting for me on the road …” He looked thoughtful, voice quiet now. “He looked so young, tired to the bone, petting that silly cow. Then I made a stupid comment to a harmless joke … you know, an old dog learns slowly, and … I don’t know.” He sighed. “I had the feeling it got to him. And it made me think that maybe more of what I said over the years got to him, too, and he’s just hiding it better when he’s at least half awake.”

She looked at him thoughtfully and then kissed him. “I’m proud of you.”

***

It was the first time Clark spent the night and after taking a quick shower – separately – and getting Clark one of his silken pyjamas (which was a bit too small on him but would do for the night) they stood in the hallway in front of Lex’s bedroom. They had spent hours cuddled up on the sofa since they’d come together as a couple and Clark was not at all hesitant to just walk into Lex’s office and sit on his lap when he was still working from home to get his attention, but he didn’t want to make him think that this it was expected of him to share his bed. He gently kissed Clark’s lips and God, he had never wanted anything as much as just get into bed with him and be close to him all night. Still he asked. “You want your own room or …?”

“Are you kidding me?” Clark grinned and kissed him, a little longer this time, opened the bedroom door and walked toward the bed as if he owned the place.

Lex grinned, too, followed him, climbed into bed and pulled Clark to him. He felt Clark cover them both with a blanket, felt strong arms around him, Clark’s head on his shoulder as he himself wrapped his arms around his boyfriend even more tightly, holding him close.

Then he drifted off.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading <3 Please let me know what you think!
> 
> I'm sorry for any mistakes, English is not my first language ;)


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